I'm trying out for a D-3 college team. I've been on the coaches summer workout program and have improved my ball-handling skills tremendously. But I need to know what I need to work on to adjust from High School to College soccer. THNX!
The biggest adjustment is the speed of the game. I don't have any real suggestions about how you can get used to that other than trying to find some high caliber pickup games if you can. I think the most important aspect is to be in the very best shape you can be. You should be running almost every day anywhere from 6 to 10 miles. And then, top off your runs with 10 to 15 100 yard dashes or shuttle runs. The first practices are going to be in some hot August weather. The coach might try to bust as many balls in the first few days to see who has got it and who doesn't. Be in shape and the coach will notice you.
JoseP is exactly right....speed of the game is the biggest difference. You will learn that getting rid of the ball by playing ONE-TOUCH and TWO-TOUCH soccer is the way to go at the College level. If you hold on to the ball and try to dribble too much at the college level, your opponents will take you out physically. What's worse is these guys will be an average 30-50 pounds heavier than the HS guys you played against...so you'll probably get messed up bad if you don't pass. The key is, before you get the ball, think where you will pass it when you do receive it. So when it comes to you, you can make a quick one or two touch pass. Good luck.
yeah man, most definately the pace of the game drastically changes to a much higher pace than hs at the college level..i just got back from a tryout at jacksonville university, a DI school, which went very well for me, i made the team! your mind must always be thinking what to do next, and your first touch must be on point at all times cause alot of it is one and two touch football..another thing is that the guys are well built and their fitness levels are very high, but over time you will be too with the weight training and running that you'll go through...man, i think i just repeated what the last two posts said...just try hard and be vocal and you'll be fine..good luck man! let me know how it goes!!
Thanks for the advice guys. My tryouts start Aug 19th so I'll try to get you an update as soon as I know something. Thanks again for the courtesy.
pretty much everything said above...6-10 miles a day is too much though, you might lose some quickness doing this much running. mentally, you have to really understand the game...having a grasp on really what your coach is trying to get you to do will really impress him.
College players tend to be much more physical than high school players - be prepared to have to put the shoulder in a lot; if you're going to hold the ball at all you need to get good at shielding it, and have enough strength to keep from getting pushed off the ball. Also, good first touch is essential, mainly because if you don't have the ball under control on your first touch you're going to have someone hitting you right away. Expect hard and possibly dirty tackles. Even within the NCAA umbrella, D3 is much more physical than D1. We averaged three yellow cards a game last season which made us the cleanest team in our conference; La Verne actually got an average of one red card per game. My own introduction to D3 college soccer was especially nasty - my freshman season lasted less than 30 seconds. I received the ball on the wing, tried to shield the ball from a defender, and had a second defender slide right through my ankle. End of season.
FWIW, I was trying to get him ready for the August practices by increasing his endurance. I don't know how that would affect his speed, but I did balance it with speed drills as well. But, if that is a problem, lower the distance running and do more of the speed drills.
You don't run 5-6 miles in a game in one clip. Try to keep your fitness work soccer-specific. Also be sure to include some agility work. Some of the following exercises will be useful. 1. 120s. On a football field, run from the back of one endzone to the back of the other in 15-18 seconds, run back to the start in 25-30 seconds and use the remainder of the minute to rest. Then repeat. Take an extra minute after your 4th, and 7th run, and do 10. If you can't do 10 your first time (and unless you're darn fit you won't) then try to take breaks every few runs. 2. Graduated sprints. Run 10 sprints each at the following distances (20 yds, 40yds, 80 yds, 100 yds). Take a full rest between each one. About 20 seconds for the short runs, to 1 minute each for the longer ones. 3. Place two cones or shirts, or some marker 20 yards apart. Run between each 6 times (out and back is 1 rep) in no more than 35-45 seconds. Do 5 sets of these, take a 10 minute break, then do 5 more sets but instead of a normal turn, run back to the line backwards. Should take you an extra 20 seconds or so per set. 4. Do a two mile run as fast as you can. Time yourself. You should fall between 10 and 11 minutes. 5. Play 30 minutes of 1v1 against your friends to small goals. Try to bring 2-3 friends and play against each of them for 10-15 minutes. You want fresh legs against you. 6. Play in a small sided game for and hour, trying to play the entire game one touch if you can. Play it strategically so that when you are on the ball it's one touch, and when you pass you either create space for the person on the ball, or you create a 2v1 around the ball. Thinking in this basic tactical way will increase your usefulness around the ball in a way that will show up HUGE when you get to college. Each of these exercises should be done on different days. So there are 6 days represented here. If you really want to push things, try to do your 2 mile run each morning or afternoon, and combine it with the other activites listed. When you are prepared to test your aerobic fitness levels, go to the track, and run around as many times as you can in 12 minutes. Divide the track into 4 equal sections (marker at start/finish, the center of each turn, and directly across from start finish) and find out how many laps and quarter laps you can run in 12 minutes. A fit college make should be making 8.5 to 10 laps. When or if you get to 10 laps in 12 minutes, you'll find that you are fit enough to play a full half without subs. Your coach will love you. I use all of these methods to prepare my teams and I have never had an issue with fitness when they have been able to complete the work. Good luck to you.
Again everything that everyone has said above.....my coach starts out tryouts w/ a 45 min run w/ three speeds walk sprint jog, one whistle is sprint 2 whistles jog 3 whistles walk. . . we only here those 3 whistles at the end though lol. . . so i go for a hour run every day. . . i run for 5 to 10 min then sprint for 30 sec. . .then go back to my jog i then follow that every other day with a series of sprints 20's 30's 40's and 50's
most times, and I don't know that it's just division 3 ball- but coaches want 2 miles in or under 12 minutes. it's called the Cooper Test I believe. I had to do it for high school every day during camp, which of course was after our first day of tryouts 5 mile run in or under 35 minutes. my college is different. hit the track for 3 miles, which has to be under 18 minutes.
I am going to a D2 college and the coach wants two miles in under 12 and a half minutes. Should be able to do it soon, struggling to do a mile in under 550 though! I play as a stiker and more of a target player, my times have always been slower than midfielders full backs etc.
yes very intresting....we have world class soccer players having trouble running 1.86 miles under 12 minutes and yet here in north america...to make a varsity college team you have to run 2 miles under 12 minutes. Why do you guys think that colleges place so much emphasis on long distance running and physical strength rather than skills/techniques?
I don't get why it's like that either. some people just weren't made to run distance really fast. just because I can only run 2 miles in 12:30(not making the cut) doesn't mean that I can't keep up on the field with someone who runs it in 11:59, or that I'm not as good of a soccer player. some coaches notice that stuff though. I hadn't played in half a year, so I was out of shape. my club coach took me for his team, even though during some drills in tryouts I could hear him whisper to another coach "man, he's getting tired." so I thought I was shot, had no chance. in his mind, I as, if not more talented than the others. and he understood that conditioning could be worked on, so it wasn't a big deal taking me and cutting someone else.
My first day of D3 college ball, back in 1995, we had to run 2 miles in 12 minutes or else we weren't going to be able to take part in the first practice of the year. Obviously, missing the first practice was not the impression that I wanted to make as an incoming Freshman. I made that 2 miles in 11:49 and threw up on the track immediately afterward. But I practiced, damn it!
Part of it is just a sign of committment-- if you're committed to the team and the program, you'll show up in shape and ready to play.
Obviously, the coach has noticed this, and took note of your ambition and your desire to play. I'm sure you became one of his favourites!
I think a lot of this also depends on where you are playing D3 soccer, if it is a school like Messiah (undefeated national champs last year) who can tool up most mid level D1 programs your fitness and your first touch are going to be the most vital things you need to have sorted out. Once you get out of the top 15 national rankings D3 gets pretty average all the way down to outright bad (we are talking worse than high school) and there the ability to even juggle a ball two or three times will be all you need to step on the field. Also with the comment earlier about how fitness and one touch play to avoid getting leveled is more vital than skill and knowledge of the game in US college soccer, it find it out right sad that it really comes down to that but it is partly because many college players including upper level D1 players are not skilled players, they are just guys that can run all day and have had it drilled into their heads that you can't be creative with the ball and if someone is then you either break their leg or knock them over. It all goes back to the way the game is taught to kids in this country, "everyone must have an equal amount of the ball" "no showboating" "pass first, shoot second" "you can't try and beat 2 players with the ball", all those are common things taught to kids learning the game here due to coaches not knowing/playing the game themselves, or not understanding how to nurture true talent. It's easier for them to tell a kid to run five miles or teach them to kick someone in the legs than demonstrate a series of foot skills they can't do anyway.